Retention

The mind is a film which retains everything that is printed on it through sight and the other senses. Obviously, in reading, the images perceived most intensively are those the mind retains best. Some people say, "My mind is a sieve. Everything slips through it. I never can remember anything I read."

This is because they aren't trying. Their attention is scattered over a dozen different diversions. To retain what you read it is necessary to follow a certain discipline. It grows naturally out of the Seven Steps to Faster Reading.

Here it is:

You must be sufficiently interested in what you read to want to remember its important facts. Un less you concentrate, the images will not register clearly enough to be easily recalled.
You must drill yourself to distinguish important facts from details you can disregard.
You must be constantly alert to keep the direction of the author's thought running actively in your mind.

Two techniques will help you to develop retention as a skill. The first is recognizing key words. The second is summarizing paragraphs mentally as you go along.

1. Key words. In all" writing the sense of paragraphs is carried along in key words. Sentences contain many unimportant words and phrases to fill out the style — to make pleasant, imaginative prose. Unless you are reading simply to enjoy the style, retention is quickened by jumping from key word to key word. This takes some practice but it isn't a difficult skill.

To illustrate, here is a paragraph from a famous letter Benjamin Franklin wrote to Madame Brillon, one of the great court ladies, when he was our agent in France in 1779. As "The Whistle," the letter has been reprinted in many anthologies. Here is the incident that inspired it:

"When I was a child of seven years old my friends on a holiday filled my pocket with coppers. I went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children, and being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered and gave all my money for one. I then came home and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers and sisters and cousins, understanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth, put me in mind what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money, and laughed at me so much for my folly that I cried with vexation; and the reflection gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure."

Without meaning to do violence to Ben Franklin's pleasant style, here are the key words which carry the sense of the entire paragraph:

"When I was seven friends filled my pocket with coppers. I went shop toys, being charmed sound of a whistle met by the way another boy voluntarily offered all my money for one. came home whistling all over the house . My brothers and sisters told me given four times it was worth what good things bought with rest of money laughed at my folly I cried; gave me more chargrin than      whistle gave      pleasure."

In this kind of reading for key words you do not skip the words between but you brush over them lightly so that the key words register sharply and retain the sense for you. If you remember the key words in the Franklin selection you can easily reconstruct the story in the paragraph long after you read it.

2. Summarizing. A second technique which is a powerful aid to retention is to summarize paragraphs in your mind as you go along. It may seem at first that this is bound to put a brake on speed. If you stopped to write down summaries of course it would. But you don't. When you have practiced mental summarizing for a while, under full concentration, a sort of after-image of the paragraph remains with you, even as you are going ahead at high speed. If you become conscious of this after-image you will retain the main ideas and keep the sequence of the author's discussion flowing as you read.

To see how well you can retain the facts you read, here is a short article on the events leading up to the Battle of Lexington. Pre-read it first. Then read the entire article as rapidly as you can and time yourself before you take the retention test at the end. Look for key words. Try to summarize the paragraphs as you go along. To give you a purpose, we'll say that you are planning to write an article on the origins of the American Revolution.

Starting Time              MINUTES      SECONDS

Begin Timing:

“Almost everyone knows that the first blood of the American Revolution was shed at Lexington on April 19, 1775. Many believe that British troops cold-bloodedly fired on American militiamen who were simply exercising their right to bear arms in that chilly dawn. But who remembers now that the Boston Tea Party was the direct cause of the Lexington engagement?

"This celebrated incident — an overt rejection of the tax on tea — erupted on the rainy night of December 16, 1773. A well-disciplined collection of Boston's citizens — perhaps 125 in all and some rather fancifully disguised as Indians — boarded three British merchant ships in the harbor and tossed overboard £18,000 worth of tea sent out from England by the East India Company.

"When Parliament and George III heard of this defiance they demanded that Massachusetts Bay Province pay the full cost of the tea. The provincial legislature refused. Parliament then grimly passed an act to close the Port of Boston on June 1, 1774. It would remain closed till the tea was paid for. The King sent out Lt. General Thomas Gage as Military Governor of Massachusetts Bay, with four regiments of regulars to awe the Americans.

"For nearly- a year Gage followed a policy of watchful waiting, hoping that the unrest would die down. But his spies kept him informed of the growing store of ammunition which the Americans were collecting in Concord, some 20 miles outside Boston. He knew also that "minute" companies were drilling on village greens from one end of the province to the other.

"His own military force was growing that winter. By the spring of 1775 he had ten British regiments in Boston with a strength of more than 4,000 men. Gage realized that to send this army against the militia would cause armed rebellion. If he could just get possession of the ammunition it would serve the same purpose as a military victory. The provincial forces would be without means to resist.

"The course he decided on was a surprise night march to Concord. If all went well, his troops would seize the powder and be back in Boston by mid-morning — before the militia could be assembled. It seemed a sound enough plan, but from the start things went wrong. Even before the 700 grenadiers and light infantrymen embarked in boats to be ferried across the Back Bay to the point where they would begin their march, the secret was out. Paul Revere and William Dawes were on their way by different routes to alert the minutemen. After the regulars reached shore they were delayed for nearly two hours waiting for provisions to arrive. It was after one o'clock before they moved out.

"Alarm guns and ringing church bells soon gave gloomy evidence that the countryside was aroused. Excited messengers riding back from the direction of Concord told Colonel Smith, who commanded the regulars, that '500 armed men' were assembled in Lexington through which the road led. Smith sent Major John Pitcairn ahead with four light-infantry companies to reconnoiter.

"It was sunrise when Pitcairn came in sight of Lexington Green. Instead of 500 men, there were not more than 70 drawn up in two irregular ranks, with perhaps 40 onlookers. Pitcairn spurred his horse to the Green and demanded that the provincials lay down their arms. Captain John Parker, in command of the militia company, saw the futility of doing anything else. He ordered his men to disperse and not to fire.

"The British companies were now advancing in platoons toward the militiamen. Some, but not all, of the Americans had obeyed Parker and were starting to leave the field. At this point, a single shot was fired, other random shots followed and then the first British platoon fired a volley. Two more volleys followed from the second and third platoons, pushing hard behind the first. When it was over, eight Lexington men lay dead; 10 more had been wounded. The only British casualty was Major Pitcairn's horse, but whether it was wounded by an American or a British bullet was not determined at the time — or later.

"Who fired the first shot? The Americans denied that it came from their side. Pitcairn swore he had given no order to fire, though he admitted that his regulars were nervous and had broken discipline in firing their volleys. To this day, no one knows who fired the shot that began a revolution. But of one thing there is no doubt. The road to Lexington began in Boston Harbor with the destruction of three shiploads of the East India Company's tea."

Stop Timing.

ENDING TIME _____________ MINUTES          SECONDS

Timing Score.   Length of selection, approximately 750 words. Use the chart on page 8 or the equation given in Part One to figure your reading speed. Write it below:

TIMING SCORE    ___________   WPM

Retention Test

This article contained a good many important facts. The questions that follow will test your retention of the major points:

What was the date of the Boston Tea Party?
How many men took part?
What was the value of the destroyed tea?
Who became Military Governor of Massachusetts Bay Province?
When was the Port of Boston closed?
Where were the Americans storing ammunition?
On what night did the British march out?
Who carried the alarm to the militia and the countryside?
About what time did the British reach Lexington?
How many American militiamen were assembled?
Who was their captain?
Who was the British major in command at Lexington?
How many Americans were killed?
Who fired the first shot at Lexington?
Why did the Boston Tea Party cause the Revolution?

If you made a good score on this retention test you have already acquired a sense of what you should retain in reading. Ten to 15 correct answers puts you in the superior class. If you did poorly, this test has provided a guide to the sort of facts you should look for next time.